Rotterdam's Railex expands to Florida

Company with Rotterdam warehouse, distribution center expands south

Eric Anderso, Times Union

By Eric Anderson

Updated 6:25 pm, Tuesday, May 13, 2014

The warehouse was in full production at Railex in Rotterdam, New York where the NYS Labor Department spoke about new initiatives that have been designed to help business in the Capital Region to weather the economic storm. (Skip Dickstein / Times Union)

Railex LLC, which operates a warehouse and distribution center in Rottercam that employs more than 300 people, will open a new warehouse, its fourth, next month in Jacksonville, Fla.

Railex is leasing the Florida facility while a permanent warehouse is being built. Completion is expected by the end of the year, said Paul Esposito, the company's executive vice president.

The new warehouse will cost $106 million, according to the Jacksonville Financial News & Daily Record. The company is receiving nearly $9 million in state and city incentives, the paper reported, and is expected to employ 310 people five years after it opens.

Railex ships produce and other perishables in climate-controlled boxcars on dedicated trains that operate between Rotterdam and West Coast warehouses in Wallula, Wash., and Delano, Calif.

Most of the cargo — products that range from vegetables to wine — flows eastward from the Pacific Northwest and California's Central Valley.

Esposito said finding so-called backhaul cargo to ship west has been a challenge.

"We're running about 15 to 20 percent full to Washington and 5 to 10 percent to California," he said.

For now, trains from the West Coast will also run directly to Jacksonville, although Esposito said eventually perishables and other freight will also be shipped between Rotterdam and Jacksonville.

After the Jacksonville warehouse opens, Railex will focus on establishing a fifth warehouse and distribution center somewhere in the Midwest.

"Our ultimate plan was always to get the four corners and the Midwest," all of which would be connected by rail, he said.

Railex officials are considering adding container cargo to at least some of its trains, which could be trucked to their ultimate destination.

"A boxcar doesn't show savings until it's full," he said.

Each boxcar carries the equivalent of three to four tractor-trailers of cargo.

Railex also is planning a $12 million expansion of its Rotterdam warehouse, for which it was awarded $1 million in state funds through Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Regional Council.

The expansion is expected to create an additional 100 jobs.

Last autumn, Railex moved office workers from its Rotterdam warehouse to office space in downtown Schenectady, freeing more space to handle a growing amount of produce.